Press Freedom address at AUT timely reminder

A talk to mark Press Freedom Day will explore
the dangers of complacency around media freedom in New
Zealand.

The UNESCO World Freedom Day lecture, being held
at AUT University tomorrow night (Tuesday), comes in the
same week Justice Minister Judith Collins wrongly accused
one reporter of making an inappropriate request and issued a
warning to the wider press gallery that she might “get
recall on all sorts of things”.

Collins has since
rescinded her comments about political reporter Katie
Bradford but the comment directed toward the New Zealand
press gallery could be viewed as a challenge to media
freedom.

In an interview with a TV3 reporter, Collins
suggested she had more information about inappropriate
behaviour by members of the press gallery that she could
make public: “You might just find I get recall on all
sorts of things. We'll just wait and see. I think it is very
important when the media want to raise issues about
behaviours, they need to understand that they sometimes can
be very inappropriate as well."

AUT University Professor
David Robie says the events of this week are a timely
reminder for all new Zealanders about the value and
importance of press freedom, and the need to protect
it.

“It’s easy to presume New Zealand is a safe place
where press freedom is assured but those freedoms require
protection. If you unpick the comments made by Justice
Minister Collins the suggestion is that members of the press
can only report on issues if they themselves have a ‘clean
slate’, otherwise they face a penalty – a blatant
threat. That is not media freedom.”

At tomorrow
evening’s talk media researcher and commentator Dr Gavin
Ellis, former editor-in-chief of The New Zealand Herald,
will tackle the challenges of media freedom in a
developed nation such as New Zealand.

Dr Ellis will be
speaking as part of a global series of events marking Press
Freedom Day with a theme of Media Freedom for a Better
Future – shaping the post 2015 development agenda.

His
address at AUT University on Tuesday evening (May 6) is
entitled “No-one died covering celebrity news”.

He
warns about the “fundamental danger in taking freedom for
granted” in New Zealand and argues for a return to
responsible journalism values.

Dr Ellis is a weekly
commentator about media issues on Radio New Zealand
National. He was chairman of the New Zealand Media Freedom
Committee and recipient of the British Commonwealth Astor
Press Freedom Award in 2005. He is the author of Trust
Ownership and the Future of News: Media Moguls and White
Knights to be published in London in June.

At the
UNESCO lecture, he will also engage with the audience in a
discussion of the issues raised.

The discussion will be
moderated by New Zealand National Commission of UNESCO board
member Trish Carter. The event has been organised by the
National Commission in partnership with AUT’s Pacific
Media Centre. The inaugural lecture last year was delivered
by Dr Mark Pearson, professor of journalism and social media
at Griffith University, Queensland.

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